Microsoft to Fold Booth at CES After 2012

Microsoft Inc. has announced Wednesday, that January's Consumer Electronic Show (CES) will be the last trade show the multinational corporation will participate in.

We have decided that this coming January will be our last keynote presentation and booth at CES, said Frank Shaw, the head of Microsoft's corporate communications, in the company blog post.

After close to twenty years of being the main attraction at CES, Microsoft's decision to move on came after the company asked itself, Are we doing something because it's the right thing to do, or because 'it's the way we've always done it'?

Our industry moves fast and changes faster, the company said in a statement. And so the way we communicate with our customers must change in equally speedy ways.

Microsoft said the decision was taken as the convention no longer fits its needs and its timing does not align with Microsoft's product announcements.

Though the next CES scheduled in Las Vegas will be the last for the giant corporation, Microsoft has added that it will use CES to connect with customers, but won't have a booth for their products.

Microsoft is now emulating the Cupertino-based Apple Inc., which does not take part in the show. With Apple garnering a huge amount of attention for any event it puts up, companies such as Facebook and Amazon have also followed suit in hosting their own high-profile events to make major product announcements.

Even though Microsoft has given a preview of their latest Windows 8 at a separate press conference in September, CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to speak about the new operating system at the CES in the coming year.

The largest consumer technology trade show in America is a launchpad for some of the biggest new technologies and gathers over 100,000 visitors every year. According to a report in Associated Press, the Consumers Electronics Association which organizes CES, has received interest from other exhibitors for Microsoft's booth space.